Food fight: Student Fed approves CHP request

After a contentious debate, Hillsdale College’s Student Federation voted 14-4 to allocate nearly $7,000 from its surplus fund for Centrahallapalooza at its April 6 meeting.

The $6,858.21 is covering half the cost of food — the other half coming from the Student Activities Board’s own fund — which SAB members said they hope will purchase more and better options.

“Time after time, when we survey students after each Centralhallapalooza, the most surveyed thing people wanted to see more of was quality of food and amount of food,” SAB Event Coordinator senior Shelby Phillips said.

Last year, Student Fed gave SAB $6,214.99. The amount this year is coming from the federation’s surplus accumulated over several years, since the group has already spent its $10,000 discretionary budget.

“This is seven tenths of the budget that we get per semester,” Student Fed Junior Rep. Brendan Noble said. “That’s a lot of money, and we’re running a deficit. And the surplus, at this rate, if we pass this, we’ll run out in three semesters, which will be before sophomores graduate.”

The Finance Committee recommended that Student Fed give SAB only $6,214.99, the same amount of money it received last year.

“The committee was unanimous in its thought that the Student Fed should not allow Centralhallapalooza costs to continue rising,” said sophomore Ross Hatley, Student Fed treasurer and Finance Committee chair.

Other federation members, however, said Centralhallapalooza is important enough to the entire student body to justify taking from its surplus.

“This is the type of thing that actually infuriates the student body,” Student Fed Junior Rep. John Gage said. “If your average student on campus was in here, they’d be like: ‘What the heck are they talking about, that they’re cutting money from Centralhallapalooza?’ Let’s be honest, if we’re here to represent the student body, the student body wants as much money to go to CHP as possible. That’s just true.”

Student Fed also unanimously allocated $1,000 to Alithea, the Christian apologetics lecture series club, to bring Greg Koukl, Stand 2 Reason Ministries founder and a Christian author, to campus on April 24 to discuss his new book. The money will pay Koukl’s honorarium, said sophomore Katarina Bradford, Alithea founder and president.

“I know it’s a really big amount, but I have some good news,” Bradford said. “Hopefully we won’t need to request funds next year, because Alithea currently is in contact with a potential permanent donor.”

Cecil B. Day Foundation chairman Woody White, who sponsors Christian apologetics clubs at colleges across the nation, has taken an interest in Alithea, Bradford said. His donations could render future aid from Student Fed unnecessary.